If You Want a Baby Badger...It Takes Due Dilligence

As most of you know, I am a Wisconsin Badger through and through. I grew up just outside of Madison, I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I returned to the good old UW to complete my graduate degree a few years later. My allegiance to Bucky Badger is strong. My dad (along with my aunt and uncle) has had season tickets to Badger football games for several decades, suffering through the years of Don Morton and experiencing the rush of beating Michigan in 1993 to go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 31 years (and to win for the first time ever). In the last 15 years or so, many of my family's vacations have revolved around traveling to see the Badgers play in a post-season bowl game. (Thank goodness they don't have the Garden State Bowl any longer!)

One of the (many) benefits of marrying an international man of mystery like Nick is that he did not come into our relationship with an allegiance to any particular college sports team. This has saved our relationship from much agony, as he readily converted into a Badger fan. His love of American football in general has also been beneficial, as he has no trouble spending Saturdays curled up on the couch, catching a Badger football game.

Maintaining your Badger status while living in Minnesota (land of the Golden Gopher) isn't hard when you have a strong Badger pedigree like I do, but it will likely be more of a challenge for Jack. Because we truly want a Baby Badger, we are working diligently to expose Jack to all things Badger. He has already watched at least two Badger football games on TV, he has a Badger mobile that plays On Wisconsin attached to his crib (thanks Aunt Janet), he has some Badger clothes (thanks Aunt Jane and Uncle Steve), and we sing Badger songs to him every chance we get.

One of my personal favorites for serenading Jack, stemming from my days of living in the Lakeshore dorms, is "If You Want a Baby Badger." Many of you are probably more familiar with the traditional version of this song, that is, "If You Want to Be a Badger." The Baby Badger version, is sung to the same tune, but using the lyrics below:

If you want a baby badger, just come along with me,
By the bright shining light, by the light of my room.
If you want a baby badger, just come along with me,
By the bright shining light of my room.

By the light of my room,
By the light of my room,
By the bright shining light, by the light of my room.
If you want a baby badger, just come along with me,
By the bright shining light of my room.

I'm not sure where we got this version from, but, boy, did we have some good times at Badger football games with this one. (Perhaps the tailgating before also had something to do with it.) Maybe one day, Jack too will decide to go to the UW and will get to experience this fun as a student. If he does, he will be one of the best prepared kids in his class!

Jack after the loss to Illinois

Come on, Badgers!

Jack and Bucky

Note: Those of you non-American readers of this blog who are not very familiar with college football teams may want to check out the hyperlinks that I have embedded in the text above, as they may help you understand what the heck I am talking about in this post!